MC CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

An Athlete's Experience Abroad

My
name is Alex Willard. I am from Clinton, Tennessee. I am a senior at Maryville
College, where I am an Accounting/Finance major with a Sociology minor.
Throughout my undergraduate experience, I have played four years on the football
team, I have been a resident assistant for three-years, I held the position of treasurer
for the residence hall association and have been co-chair peer mentor. Through
academics and these organizations, Maryville College has challenged me to
search for truth and grow in wisdom. It has also challenged me to expand my
comfort zone and experience things that I would have never dreamed of
experiencing before arriving on campus.

Although growing up I had an itch to
go abroad, it never crossed my mind during my first two years in college. Maybe
this was due to my schedule being filled by countless hours of practice? Or
maybe it was because I was scared to leave my comfort zone? Anyways, hearing MC
students talk about their experiences influenced and pushed me to see what the hype
around the study abroad program was about. Since football season was during the
fall, off season workouts were in the spring and I had to work to pay for
school during the summer; I was limited in when I could go abroad. This left
one option for me, J-term. As I began to look for opportunities that fit my
time table and one that would challenge me on many levels, one stuck out. The
18-day J-term trip to Ecuador!

Ecuador was a trip that consisted of
traveling around the entire country, moving every two to three days. It was
also one that consisted a lot of physical activity such as: hiking, walking,
carrying your heavy bag from place to place and adventure activities. This is
where I think being an athlete helped me succeed while being abroad. Not only
was I in good shape, but going abroad allowed me to use my teamwork skills and
allowed me to use my knowledge of overcoming adversity. I had to rely on others
to help navigate the terrain and even the language barrier. I found myself in
unknown territory and had to use my athletic training to stay positive and be
courageous.

Finally, while Maryville College
prepares students for many aspects of life, I truly believe it is hard to
prepare students for trips abroad. During my 18-day trip, I experienced
different cultures, languages, many foods and tradition. I also gained the
experience of feeling like a minority. This trip provided me with an
opportunity to expand my views and to help me better understand social and
sustainability problems from a worldwide perspective.